Tag: WrestleMania 40

Nick Khan claims WWE WrestleMania 40 plans ‘never changed’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

According to Nick Khan, the way things ended up at WWE WrestleMania 40 were always how they were supposed to go.

The 2024 edition of WrestleMania saw Cody Rhodes defeat Roman Reigns to finish his story and become Undisputed WWE Champion. But the build to the match took a turn when Rhodes briefly gave up that main event spot to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Fans did not respond well to the move, and the match once again became Reigns vs. Rhodes. A tag team bout was also made for night one of WrestleMania 40 with Reigns & The Rock taking on Rhodes & Seth Rollins.

WWE produced its own “Behind the Curtain” documentary on how fan backlash led them to pivot back to Reigns vs. Rhodes. But Khan, speaking at SBJ On Stage, claimed plans “never changed” and the situation went the way WWE wanted it to go.

“By the way, the plan was always how it ended up in Philly two years ago. Sometimes — it’s a pre-determined outcome in wrestling. You want to throw the fans off, you want to let things bake, and then, boom, it ends up the way that we wanted it to end up. It never changed,” the WWE president said. “That was just online rumors and gossip that we were changing — it never changed. We convinced Dwayne Johnson to come back. He’s on our board of directors. It was a tag team match. He’s about the same age I am, so two years ago let’s say he was 50, he was obviously in phenomenal shape, he did everything that we asked of him and then some. But that was always the result we were looking for.”

Khan’s appearance at SBJ On Stage took place in April prior to WrestleMania 42 but was not uploaded until this week.

Nick Khan on not listening to social media criticism —

At the SBJ event, Khan reiterated that WWE listens to ratings, revenue, and relevancy and does not respond to social media criticism. He views X/Twitter as a vocal minority and has not used the platform in regards to WWE.

“People are allowed to complain, but we don’t adjust our business based on complaints,” he said. “We adjust our business based on ratings, revenue, relevancy.

Jacob Fatu says WWE debut was delayed, attended WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Jacob Fatu signed with WWE in early April 2024 and even attended WrestleMania 40 but his debut was delayed. 

On the latest episode of Raw Recap, Fatu disclosed that he attended Wrestlemania 40 which was shortly after he had signed with WWE. He was present at the Hall of Fame ceremony that year, wearing a hoodie and hidden in plain sight to conceal his identity from the public. He remembered being elated at seeing his cousins – Roman Reigns, The Usos and Solo Sikoa at the event.

“Yeah, I was there. WrestleMania 40. WrestleMania 40, pulled up. A lot of people don’t know, a lot of my independent career took off in Philadelphia so to be there, that WrestleMania during that time, it was something special. I got there at WrestleMania, still didn’t know, I was signed already. I just got signed but I didn’t know when I was coming. Day after WrestleMania 40, met everybody, said ‘what’s up?’ We were in the Hall of Fame, I was sitting in Gorilla. Nobody could see me. I was hooded up. Everybody walking by, and I was tripping out. I seen my brother Solo, I seen my brother Big Jim, see Mr. Yeet Man, seeing all of them in there. I was in there with Roman, the Tribal Chief and O.G. Paul Heyman so, to go out there to be a part of that, it was off the rip.”

Fatu added that he met Reigns that weekend and he advised him to do whatever needed to be done for his career. Fatu watched his cousins, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa get called up and declared that his debut was supposed to take place at Money in the Bank that year but was delayed. 

“I just remember when Roman seen me, when I left, he said, ‘Jacob, do whatever you gotta do. But when you come back, look different.’ I was already looking different at that time. But, two more months, came in and got it rolling. The day after WrestleMania 40, seen Tama — Tama Tonga come over. Tama Tonga’s a beast, a workhorse, a dog. Seen him, man, okay. Didn’t know they was coming. Backlash, France, seen Tonga Loa pop up. I’m like, ‘Okay.’ I gotta call brother up and them, ‘Hey man, I still got a job over there!?’ I ain’t know what was going on. But man, it all fell together. It all came together. I was supposed to debut at Money in the Bank. Next thing you know, they called. Man, a couple days and was like, ‘We doing it on SmackDown.’ Nobody seen it coming.”

Fatu eventually debuted in a June edition of SmackDown that year. He attacked Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens to prove his alliance with Sikoa. After their split, Fatu won the United States Championship, holding the title for nearly 70 days.

Earlier this year, Fatu returned from a brief hiatus after being attacked by an unknown assailant in October 2025. He interfered in Rhodes and Drew McIntyre’s title matches which forced a title change. And it ultimately led to his rivalry with McIntyre. The two will settle their scores in an unsanctioned match on Night One at WrestleMania 42. 

Steve Austin explains not appearing at WWE WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Joseph Currier

An appearance at WWE WrestleMania 40 was pitched to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin — but he had “other sh*t going on.”

The main event of WrestleMania 40 in 2024 saw Cody Rhodes defeat Roman Reigns to finish his story and win the WWE Championship. Cameos by WWE legends The Rock and The Undertaker were part of the match — and it seemed like Undertaker’s spot might have originally been intended for Austin. Undertaker helped fend off interference by The Rock and clear the way for Rhodes to get the victory.

In the past, Austin has explained that the rumored appearance in Philadelphia didn’t happen because of scheduling issues. He expanded on that during an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet.

“Things just didn’t line up. I had other things going on,” Austin said. “You know, I remember when they pitched that to me. I said, ‘Dude, I got some things going on. I don’t see myself being there.’ That was way in advance. Was it pitched to me, or did they want me there? Yeah, but I wasn’t in a position to go.

“There was a possibility that I could have been there, had I chose to go there. I had other sh*t going on. Sometimes, you know, WWE is this multi-billion dollar corporation. I got a metal shop that we’re sitting in. So, sometimes the multi-billion dollar company has an idea that the dude that has the metal shop — it just don’t work. It didn’t work. I’m over here in my metal shop. I like to do as much as I can with WWE. When it works for them, when it works for me, and when it’s going to be fun. In saying that, not everything lines up on a timeline basis. I had other sh*t going on.”

Austin was able to make an appearance at WrestleMania 41 happen, with him showing up in Las Vegas at the second night to announce the attendance. The Austin vs. Bret Hart match from WrestleMania 13 was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame that weekend.

WrestleMania is back in Vegas this year — and Austin owns a ranch in the state of Nevada. It remains to be seen if he’ll be involved in the show. If he is, it likely will not be for a wrestling match. The 61-year-old Austin noted on Insight that he feels physically capable of having one more WWE match but probably never will.

The Rock reflects on WWE WrestleMania 40: ‘I had such a great time’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

During an appearance on The Tonight Show, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson reflected on returning to the WWE ring at WrestleMania 40.

“I had such a great time,” The Rock told Jimmy Fallon on Monday night. “With Cody [Rhodes], and Seth [Rollins], and Roman [Reigns] — and it was just wild. You know, I grew up in that world of pro wrestling. There’s nothing like when that music hits and the crowd goes crazy and you can connect.”

Fallon asked Rock if he feels like he’s back home when he returns to WWE.

“That’s a good way to put it,” he responded. “Because, you know, I grew up in the world of pro wrestling and I followed the careers of my grandfather and my dad. And my grandfather and my dad used to wrestle up here at the [Madison Square] Garden in the 70s. And here I come along, not trying to screw anything up with their legacy. Then all of a sudden, you know, the business has grown into what it’s grown into. TKO now owns WWE, and I have the honor of sitting on the board of TKO. So what a full-circle moment. It’s crazy, man.”

WrestleMania 40 was The Rock’s first extended in-ring action in more than a decade. He teamed with Reigns to defeat Rhodes & Rollins on night one of the event. Rhodes then defeated Reigns on night two to become Undisputed WWE Champion.

It’s uncertain whether The Rock will compete at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas next April. He briefly appeared at WWE’s Bad Blood PLE last month, teasing a match against either Rhodes, Reigns, or both of them in a triple threat.

The Rock was on The Tonight Show to promote the release of his new Christmas movie Red One, which debuts in theaters on November 15. Earlier this week, GQ named Rock their Entertainer of the Year for 2024.

Steve Austin says WWE WrestleMania 40 appearance was ‘close,’ hopes to be at 41

Posted on by Joseph Currier

An appearance by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin almost happened at WWE WrestleMania 40.

The WrestleMania 40 night two main event between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes included cameos by both John Cena and The Undertaker. The two WWE legends fended off interference by The Rock and the rest of The Bloodline, helping Rhodes win the Undisputed WWE Championship. Dave Meltzer reported that Austin was originally earmarked for Undertaker’s spot, but an agreement couldn’t be reached between him and WWE.

Unlikely with Adrian Hernandez spoke with Austin for a new interview that was published on Friday. During the conversation, Austin confirmed that he was “close” to appearing at WrestleMania 40. It didn’t happen, but Austin hopes to be at WrestleMania 41.

“Oh, it was close. And they certainly reached out to me and we had conversations, but my wife and I had some things going on that I didn’t need to go to Philly at that time. But I have said — I missed that Mania. And god dang, Philly was a good town for me back in the day and I appreciate those fans. Couldn’t make it down on that one, but WrestleMania this year is in Vegas. And I was doing an interview a while back and I said, ‘Hey man’ — and that’s 400 miles. That’s like right here, where we’re sitting. Right down the road,” Austin said. “But anyway, it’ll be in Vegas, so I hope to be there this year.”

Austin has a ranch located in Nevada. Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas is hosting WrestleMania 41 on Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20, 2025.

If Austin is part of WrestleMania 41, it will be his first time appearing at the event since WrestleMania 38, where he came out of retirement to defeat Kevin Owens. It was Austin’s first match in 19 years.

Adrian Hernandez asked Austin if he still gets the itch to come back and wrestle. Austin admitted that he thinks about it every now and then, but he understands reality and believes that wrestling is a young man’s game.

The full interview can be watched below:

VIDEO: WWE releases first two minutes of WrestleMania 40 documentary

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After a lengthy delay, WWE is gearing up for the release of its WrestleMania 40 behind-the-scenes documentary.

WrestleMania XL: Behind the Curtain was originally supposed to premiere on WWE’s YouTube channel on April 10, just three days after WrestleMania concluded. But the documentary was delayed with it being reported that WWE was still going through the vast amount of footage that was shot over WrestleMania weekend.

Now, nearly three months later, Behind the Curtain will finally premiere on YouTube at 7 p.m. Eastern time next Wednesday (July 3). Paul “Triple H” Levesque provided a first look at the documentary by uploading its first two minutes to social media today.

Behind the Curtain is narrated by Fox Sports reporter Tom Rinaldi and documents the change that WWE made to the WrestleMania 40 night two main event, pivoting to Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes after fans rejected the idea of The Rock taking Rhodes’ place. The Rock instead turned heel for the first time in decades, teaming with Reigns against Rhodes & Seth Rollins at night one of WrestleMania 40.

The Rock pinned Rhodes in that tag match and may be a future challenger for Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Championship.

While appearing on The Ringer’s Masked Man Show last month, former WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz — who now works for The Rock’s production company — addressed why the release of Behind the Curtain was delayed.

“There is, believe it or not, there is an awesome doc that WWE… The Rock isn’t holding hostage until he has approval of every frame… Jesus,” Gewirtz said. “But there was, I think there was an error in terms of promoting it so soon because it wasn’t ready to come out. So, that was an error that was made. But this was a doc that I think went from 11 minutes to 45 minutes, now it’s over an hour. And it’s pretty awesome, and it will be coming out in some form pretty soon, is my understanding.”

Brian Gewirtz says The Rock not to blame for WrestleMania XL documentary delay

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The Rock is not to blame for the delayed release of the WrestleMania XL: Behind the Curtain documentary, according to Brian Gewirtz.

Gewirtz, a former head writer for WWE and now an executive for The Rock and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions, appeared on The Ringer’s Masked Man Show Thursday and explained that an error in promoting the documentary is responsible for the delayed release, and dismissed speculation that The Rock was “holding hostage” the project.

WWE originally announced that the documentary would premiere on the company’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, April 10. The documentary has still yet to be released.

Gewirtz says:

“There is, believe it or not, there is an awesome doc that WWE… The Rock isn’t holding hostage until he has approval of every frame… Jesus.
But there was, I think there was an error in terms of promoting it so soon because it wasn’t ready to come out. So, that was an error that was made.
But this was a doc that I think went from 11 minutes to 45 minutes, now it’s over an hour. And it’s pretty awesome, and it will be coming out in some form pretty soon, is my understanding.”

Gewirtz also discussed Seven Bucks’ Who Killed WCW series that is coming to Vice TV on June 4 in his Masked Man Show interview. The episode is embedded below.

Jey Uso feels he and Jimmy let people down with WWE WrestleMania 40 match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Jey Uso feels like he and his twin brother Jimmy let people down with their WrestleMania 40 match.

In what was the third-ever brother vs. brother match at WrestleMania, Jey defeated Jimmy at night one of this year’s event. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart and Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy were the two previous brother vs. brother matchups.

Jey vs. Jimmy only went 11 minutes and received largely negative reviews. While speaking with Gorilla Position, Jey gave his thoughts on the match:

Jey: I just said this to someone – I kind of feel like we did let the people down.

Gorilla Position: Really? You feel that?

Jey: Yeah, man, because I wanted to go out there and have a straight-up banger too. I wanted to do the wrestling part, but let alone make sure the emotion part is there.

It was just a time issue, uce. You know what I’m saying? You just got to play your position on the team. That’s what happened. I’m still happy though, uce. I got a singles match on WrestleMania with my brother – that’s the big picture. So I’m going to always have me and him in the faceoff at WrestleMania. I’m going to frame a picture. It’s marked off our box. I just wish we could have went ham the way I know we can.

Before the match, Jey and Jimmy found out they were having some of their time cut due to the show being over its planned time. Jey vs. Jimmy was the fourth of seven matches to take place on the WrestleMania 40 night one card.

Damian Priest will defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Jey at WWE Backlash in Lyon, France on Saturday, May 4. Jey is looking to become a singles champion for the first time in his career.

Triple H had ‘great time’ working with The Rock on WWE WrestleMania 40 creative

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Paul “Triple H” Levesque had a great time working with his old in-ring rival The Rock on the creative side of WrestleMania 40.

At WrestleMania, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson returned to the ring for his first real match in more than a decade. He teamed with Roman Reigns to defeat Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins at night one of the show. Night two then saw Rock get involved in the Reigns vs. Rhodes main event for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

Levesque, WWE’s Chief Content Officer, spoke at the World Congress of Sports convention on Wednesday. During the appearance, he praised The Rock for how invested he was in making WrestleMania 40 an amazing ride for the fans:

I can only imagine what’s next for The Rock. He’s got his hands in just about everything. We were thrilled to have Rock being involved. When you can have the biggest star on the globe, arguably, want to be a part of what we do, and in a meaningful way, and want to do it in a way where he’s not just like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll come in, tell me what to do, I’ll go do this.’ Like, all of his resources, all of his brain power, all of his creative, all of those things, his branding, everything. ‘I want to invest in this and make it this amazing ride for our fans.’ It doesn’t get any better than that. So his coming in, just across the board, if you would have told me in the beginning of the conversations we were going to get the ‘Final Boss’ heel version of The Rock, I would have said you’re crazy. But that’s his level of commitment.

He goes off, makes a few movies now, but as he said a week ago, he’ll be back. And it’ll be a hell of a ride when he comes back.

While The Rock may have other pursuits, Levesque believes pro wrestling is in his DNA. Levesque said it was a blast to work behind the scenes with Rock on WrestleMania:

[Rock] does this thing where he comes out where he gets goosebumps and he hits his arms to show the camera the goosebumps on him. And he and I have joked about that for years. There is nothing else – like, he doesn’t finish a scene making a film and get goosebumps all over him. He doesn’t watch the movie when it comes out and get goosebumps all over him, I’d highly doubt it.

When you’re standing in a ring at WrestleMania, 75,000+ fans going absolutely insane, you get goosebumps all over you. And it’s the adrenaline rush, it is in his DNA, it’s who he is as a human being. He just absolutely loves it. And you can see it in his passion for it. He might be going in a million different directions, but the second he steps into our world, he’s all in on us. And it’s been – I was fortunate enough to work with him all through the 90s, the 2000s, everything. It was a blast to get back together and creatively to do this together. I had a great time,

WWE has set up a future Rhodes vs. The Rock match for whenever Rock does make his return. Rock pinned Rhodes in their tag match at night one of WrestleMania. Rhodes became Undisputed WWE Universal Champion by defeating Reigns the next night.

This January, Rock was named to the Board of Directors of TKO Group Holdings (the parent company of WWE and the UFC).

Philadelphia would be ‘thrilled’ to host WWE WrestleMania again

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Following the success of WrestleMania 40, Philadelphia is hoping it won’t be long until it hosts WWE’s marquee event again.

Philadelphia Business Journal published an article this week noting that Philadelphia “plans to petition to bring WrestleMania back” to the city in the near future. Larry Needle, the executive director of the PHL Sports division of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the city will engage in those conversations with WWE when the time is right.

“This is such a highly-coveted event that we know there’s a long line of cities clamoring to host, and that’s just the reality of an event of this magnitude,” Needle said. “But needless to say, we would be thrilled to have WrestleMania back, and at the right time we will engage in those conversations with the WWE.”

This was the second-ever WrestleMania to take place from Philadelphia. The first was WrestleMania 15 in 1999.

WrestleMania 40 was held at Lincoln Financial Field with other venues in Philly playing host to WWE’s surrounding events.

Before this, the most recent WrestleMania to take place in the Northeast was WrestleMania 35 in New Jersey.

Undertaker says WrestleMania 40 provided ‘closure’ on his wrestling career

Posted on by Ian Carey

The Undertaker says WrestleMania 40 gave him “closure.”

Taker appeared during the night two main event between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. He helped Rhodes fend off The Bloodline’s interference by chokeslamming The Rock. 

Taker addressed his appearance at Mania during the most recent episode of his Six Feet Under podcast. 

Taker said:

I’ve been struggling with it since I retired but this weekend gave me closure. It really did. It was fun, obviously, it was fun. Doing this for as long as I have and being involved and that, and how important that storyline was and is but when it was over and I’m running out of the building, I’m like ‘I’m good now.’ 

Taker continued:

It was like a moment of clarity that I had like, ‘I’m okay now.’ I’m not saying that I wouldn’t do something like that in the future but I don’t have that feeling in my chest like I’ve had since I retired that I hadn’t come to peace with it. 

He noted that since his retirement it’s been difficult for him to attend WWE events as he always felt an urge to perform. He now feels as though he can close that book, however. 

Taker continued:

It was such a cool weekend all the way around and then to have closure to the wrestling part of my career, it was so cool. It was really cool, it was a great feeling. It really is an amazing feeling because I don’t have that pressure now. It’s been difficult the last couple of years, especially at Mania. Even going to a regular premium live event, I’ve told you this, I would leave before the matches because I get so to the point where I need to be out there. 

So I was out there, and my goodness what a moment to have. It’s such a great storyline but, man, it was like I can close this book.

‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin WWE WrestleMania 40 update

Posted on by Joseph Currier

In the new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer explained why there wasn’t a cameo by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania 40.

The WrestleMania 40 night two main event between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns included appearances by WWE legends John Cena and The Undertaker. Some fans were hoping that Austin would also get involved and renew his rivalry with The Rock, but it didn’t end up happening.

Meltzer reports that Austin and WWE couldn’t reach a financial agreement. Because of that, Undertaker appeared in the spot that Austin was earmarked for:

I think a lot of people expected Steve Austin to come out next and take out Rock with a stunner, and then Rhodes would start hitting Cross Rhodes and win the title. Undertaker’s gong hit and he choke slammed and took out Rock. Austin was the person originally earmarked for that spot, but in the end they couldn’t reach a financial agreement and Undertaker was put in his place.

Cena, Undertaker, Seth Rollins, and Jey Uso all helped Rhodes fend off interference by The Bloodline in Sunday’s main event. It ended with Rhodes defeating Reigns to end his 1,316-day run as champion.

At WrestleMania 38 in 2022, Austin came out of retirement to defeat Kevin Owens in a no holds barred match. Austin hasn’t appeared at WrestleMania in the two years since.

Drew McIntyre’s ring gear was legitimately lost before WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Before WrestleMania 40, Drew McIntyre sent out a tweet that some assumed was just another troll.

McIntyre claimed that UPS lost his ring gear, and he used the opportunity to mock CM Punk, asking if he could borrow some trunks since the injured Punk wouldn’t need them.

Special effects artist Jason Baker revealed on Tuesday that McIntyre legitimately lost his gear before WrestleMania. Baker’s wife Mandy, who is a production designer, worked all night on Saturday so that McIntyre would have new gear for his match against Seth Rollins.

“His gear was legit lost. Not a work. You suck @UPS,” Jason Baker wrote. “My phenomenal wife @SandyMimpson left #WrestleMania40 night one during the show, stayed up until 6am, and had replacement gear ready for @DMcIntyreWWE before the start of Night 2. She’s an absolute legend! #proudhusband”

Rollins vs. McIntyre opened the action on Sunday. McIntyre defeated Rollins to win the World Heavyweight title, but his reign ended almost immediately. Damian Priest cashed in on McIntyre to become the new champion.

The story was that McIntyre’s obsession with trolling Punk cost him his WrestleMania moment. After defeating Rollins, McIntyre turned his attention to mocking Punk (who was on commentary for the match). Punk responded by taking off his arm brace and using it to attack McIntyre. That allowed Priest the opportunity to cash in.

Punk again cost McIntyre on Monday’s post-WrestleMania episode of Raw. Interference by Punk led to McIntyre losing a fatal four-way number one contender’s match.

Jey Uso won the number one contender’s match and is first in line for a shot at Priest’s World Heavyweight Championship.

Michael Buffer praises Samantha Irvin’s WWE WrestleMania performance

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE’s Samantha Irvin is getting deserved praise from a legendary ring announcer.

Irvin was the ring announcer for every match at WrestleMania 40 this past weekend. She’s received plaudits from both fans and those in the wrestling industry for her performance, which included an emotional announcement of Cody Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship victory.

The 79-year-old Michael Buffer, perhaps the most famous ring announcer of all time, added himself to the chorus of praise on Monday. He tweeted that Irvin’s timing, pace, drama, and energy were all perfect:

Ring announcer Samantha Irvin ruled @WrestleMania last night & her emotional final announcement was awesome! She was featured on camera-ring center-that was a smart production move & she was just brilliant! Her timing, pace, drama, energy was perfect!

Paul “Triple H” Levesque responded to Buffer’s tweet by saying that Irvin is “WWE’s Michael Buffer.”

Best known for his work in boxing and his “Let’s get ready to rumble!” catchphrase, Buffer was also a pro wrestling ring announcer for WCW. He appeared for WWE on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event in 2007 and at the Royal Rumble in 2008.

Irvin (real name Samantha Johnson) joined WWE in 2021 and is currently the ring announcer for Raw. She previously appeared as a singer on “America’s Got Talent.”

John Cena reveals what he told Cody Rhodes after WWE WrestleMania 40 win

Posted on by Joseph Currier

During a Monday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, John Cena revealed what he told Cody Rhodes after his WrestleMania 40 victory.

Cena, The Undertaker, Seth Rollins, and Jey Uso all got involved in Sunday’s main event, helping Rhodes fend off interference by The Bloodline. The night ended with Rhodes finishing his story by defeating Roman Reigns to become the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

This ended Reigns’ 1,316-day run as champion. On The Pat McAfee Show, Cena said he believes Reigns is the greatest of all time — but Rhodes now gets the chance to make his case for being the best.

Cena shared that, in the ring after Sunday’s match, he spoke to Rhodes about the burden you carry as World Champion:

[Rhodes’] story starts today. I told him in the ring last night – and I’m sure he’ll be able to relay this same message – when I got to embrace him, he had the championship in his right hand. And I said, ‘Do you feel that? He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Do you feel how heavy it is?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘It will get heavier every day.’ Because that is the burden you bear of trying to craft the path to being the greatest of all time. I hope – and this should be the goal for the business, every performer should pass the torch up – so I hope a year from now, two years from now, three years from now, we can all sit here and be an advocate that Cody Rhodes is the greatest of all time. Because that’s the way it should work.

Bloodline Rules was the stipulation for Reigns vs. Rhodes. While speaking in-character, Cena explained to Pat McAfee that he chose to get involved in the match so that it would be a fair fight.

Cena laid out the interfering Solo Sikoa during the match and then had a face-off with his old rival The Rock.

Cena said he was able to appear at WrestleMania because Honda “bumped” a commitment he had with them. He’s going right to that commitment following his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.

Through “just about Christmas,” Cena has Hollywood commitments that he needs to fulfill. He’s hoping that he’ll be able to come back to WWE for one last run after that.